The long good-bye

We worshipped at the lovely Hilltop Lutheran today; enjoyed Pastor Paul's final sermon there and also his playing the organ.  He is retiring at the end of the month and is preaching at different locations.  It is one of the 3 campuses of our church, Upper Arlington Lutheran, but it had probably been 5 years since we'd visited. A warm and friendly congregation, 12 South Terrace, Columbus, OH 43204.

Paul and June came to UALC in 1973 after 4 years in Minneapolis right out of seminary, and we joined in 1974, so we’ve had a long time together.  He left for awhile (8 years?) to pastor a church in Illinois, but came back as associate, and then became the senior pastor about 11 years ago.

Paul came to the hospital in 1988 when our daughter was in a serious automobile accident and was with us when she had her cancer surgery in 1996.  He officiated at our son’s wedding in 1999. He’s preached more funeral sermons than I want to recall. So, 40 years is a long time.

We also worshipped earlier at our Lytham Road campus, where we had flowers on the alter for our 53rd wedding anniversary.  Now we have them on the deck so we can see them through the dining room window.

Liberal media line up to kiss butt when Obama follows Bush

“Obama made clear in his Rose Garden announcement that he wasn’t seeking Congress’s approval out of constitutional necessity. “I believe I have the authority to carry out this military action without specific congressional authorization,” he said, arguing that the “country will be stronger” if Congress grants authorization. That happens to be precisely the argument the Bush administration made in the run-up to the Iraq War in 2002. The president also acknowledged during a press conference in Sweden on Wednesday that the United States “may not be directly, imminently threated” by the conflict in Syria.

As liberal commentators such as E. J. Dionne and Nicholas Kristof – along with a host of previously “anti-war” Democrats – have lined up in support of Obama’s plan to attack Syria, there has been relatively little discussion about the president’s blatant disavowal of the opinion he expressed as a candidate in 2007, when he told the Boston Globe that “the President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.””

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/357764/obama-constitutional-hero-andrew-stiles

But wait.  Bush did get authorization, and Obama says he will strike without it, so I guess it really isn’t the same, is it?

Senators voting Yes and the defense contractor connection

* Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) - $60,000
* Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) - $24,150
* Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) - $80,550
* Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) - $41,872
* Christopher Coons (D-Del.) - $19,500
* Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) - $127,350
* Tim Kaine (D-Va.) - $101,025
* Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) - $70,850
* Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) - $26,900
* John McCain (R-Ariz.) - $176,300

Looks like McCain got the largest amount, and he’s been one of the biggest disappointments for Republicans.  Having run against Obama in 2008, he knows personally how he lies and distorts.

“Senators voting Wednesday to authorize a Syria strike received, on average, 83 percent more campaign financing from defense contractors than lawmakers voting against war.

Overall, political action committees and employees from defense and intelligence firms such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, United Technologies, Honeywell International, and others ponied up $1,006,887 to the 17 members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who voted yes or no on the authorization Wednesday, according to an analysis by Maplight, the Berkeley-based nonprofit that performed the inquiry at WIRED’s request.”

President Obama and Syria

I rarely drink soda (aka pop)

It was very hot recently, and I had a 7-up mixed with orange juice.  Someone in the U.S. is drinking my share, which is in the gallons per capita.

Obama’s red line

The Cowboy Code

Bubba Thompson has written a book called "The Cowboy Code," about the ways a man should behave in his dating life. Alabama native Bubba Thompson lives by a code of honesty, respect, determination and faith with his family, his farms and his animals. Now, this modern day cowboy brings his code of conduct to relationships. In THE COWBOY CODE (Self-Published; on sale since September 3, 2013; Hardcover: $9.99), he shares straightforward tips, personal anecdotes, easy to follow advice and even some revealing moments from behind the scenes on CMT's Sweet Home Alabama. A must-have plan for finding and holding on to lasting love. http://www.cowboycodeusa.com/

Friday Family Photo—our anniversary

I've just put on a pair of heels for the first time in months. First it was a broken toe, then it was summer. Now it's our anniversary (almost) night out. 53rd.

Obama’s floundering economy

Notice the difference between the recession Bush inherited, and the one Obama inherited. It took Bush only a couple of years even with 9/11, although it never got back to the tech boom years of the late 90s. Obama is still floundering, and it may take until 2023 to get back to the Bush levels. Obama continues to punish small businesses and intimidate those who would expand and grow. He decided to tackle health care instead of the economy, and we are sure paying for that.

Is anyone with them on this trip?

Nancy, John and Bashar

Obama, Kerry, Pelosi and H. Clinton all tried to undercut President Bush when he was president by getting cozy with Assad. Bush made no secret about not liking him. He had the Iran/Assad connection figured out and had imposed sanctions. It's nice that they've figured it out, but why make us pay for their mistakes, which included defying and lying about a sitting president. Obama took office on 22 January 2009. Less than a month later, on 21 February 2009, U.S. Senator John Kerry was meeting with the Syrian President in Damascus. Senator Kerry would become Obama’s key envoy in dealing with Assad. You’ve probably all seen the sweet photo of the Assads and Kerrys dining together. Obama had sent a hush-hush delegation in 2008 to meet with Assad even before he was president.

Photos are from her trip when Nancy Pelosi defied the State Department and visited Assad, declaring that “the road to peace is through Damascus.”  John Kerry, acting in concert with the Obama administration, served as Assad’s errand boy in trying to bring Israel to the table for the purpose of returning the Golan Heights to the butcher of Damascus.  The Bush administration had been largely successful in isolating Syria (as Obama sought to do in 2012) until Pelosi and Kerry willfully undermined it.

"President Al-Assad and I had a very positive discussion on the formidable challenges facing this region and we found agreement on a number of ways in which both of us and other countries can contribute significantly to changing the dynamics that exist today," said Sen. John Kerry in March 2010. Then came the Arab Spring, and Obama began supporting the Islamists in various middle eastern countries.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303395904575157713877756160.html

Have you called your representative in Congress?

Black conservatives discuss needs of black community

Great show on GBTV tonight--an hour long discussion with 5 black conservatives on problems and strengths in the black community. Star Parker hosted; panelists were Scott Turner, (former Redskins, Chargers, Broncos) Republican House, Texas; Marc Little, author of "Prodigal Republican," lawyer, California; T.W. Shannon, Oklahoma House speaker; Katrina Piersen, Tea Party, Fox commentator. They discussed generational poverty, school choice, income, wealth, mobility and net worth. Job growth, not more government assistance is needed, they concluded. Although a source was not cited, one said that affirmative action had actually decreased black income over time.

Meeting up with the crazies on line

The Daily Beast and Huffington Post are just amazing sites on FaceBook--the editors write to inflame their supporters, and the comments are bizarre and crazy, sometime even funny.  Spelling and grammar are a bit up for grabs, but I do find some good ones, too.  Any offer of facts or truth get you labeled a troll. The cumulative misinformation would benefit from an Obama drone strike.

The support for legalizing marijuana is about 99%. I have an RN friend who works in a methadone clinic--sort of the end of the line for all the pot heads who thought marijuana was harmless, safer than alcohol, we just use it to unwind or relax, wouldn't lead them through the sparkling gate to the hard stuff, but it did. Wasted. Homeless. Addle-brained. Confused. And they were just so sure in their teens and twenties. . .

http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/marijuana-abuse/how-does-marijuana-use-affect-your-brain-body

I didn’t set a red line—Barack Obama

“I have, at this point, not ordered military engagement in the situation. But the point that you made about chemical and biological weapons is critical. That's an issue that doesn't just concern Syria; it concerns our close allies in the region, including Israel. It concerns us. We cannot have a situation where chemical or biological weapons are falling into the hands of the wrong people.

We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation.”

August 12, 2012, Barack Obama

What’s the rush Mr. President?

Obama made no move for the first 100,000 dead in Syria; he wasn't in a hurry to call Congress back for a vote. Now a vote has to be rushed through when about 70% of the people, left, right, and center, don't want another war. All this to save face? To cover the current scandals? To head into the 2014 elections? It makes no sense even in an administration excelling in the bizarre and incomprehensible. We have no leadership.  He can’t define the problem; he has no goal; no plan.

 

A letter to Congress about Syria

What Calvin Garlick wrote to his Congressman:

This is in response to the Syrian crisis that is ongoing. First, I will plainly state that I am AGAINST military action in Syria. It is has nothing to do with the humanitarian effort that all the politicians state or chemical weapons at that. The rebels clearly stated several times, they committed the offenses of using the chemical weapons. Second, this intervention is strictly geopolitical warfare and that it will not accomplish anything of real significance except more instability in the region, American troops getting deployed (don't act like they won't), and prove to the "east" that we are too war hungry. How can we say the Chechen militants, the Iraqi insurgents, and AL Qaeda (who are they ONLY ones who are making real advances against Assad) will be a fair partner even to Saudi Arabia? This is dangerous behavior. Doing nothing is not a serious consequence. It really is not. Tell them CIA guys and those Saudi guys to drop the advances. This is not anti-American rhetoric. It WILL save our troops lives. It was a stupid pick of a fight. Plus, this effort will leave Iran wide open to a preemptive strike against Saudi Arabia especially in an economic slowdown. This is the perfect time to strike for them. Consider that you politicians right now are the REAL ones about to start WW3. I don't want to look back at our country (if it even exists) and say "Son, We started that big war that killed so many people." Its so sad that I actually have to visualize this is a real thing. So, please I beg of you, the Syrians protested and were killed. Let them know it didn't work. Much like Bahrain and Qatar which they were brutally oppressed just the same during the same time. Please don't become the Bush/Cheney administration again. Its was a disgrace then and it still is now. Thank you for your time and Good Night

I don’t know Calvin, but saw this on HuffPo’s Facebook, a very liberal site full of crazies.  He sounded sensible and thoughtful.  And I would add, whether you agree or not, Bush actually did have a plan—he said many times, he thought the Afghans and Iraqis deserve the same freedoms we’ve enjoyed.  It was naïve.  We don’t need to impose our system on countries buried in the 7th century. Bush also had the assurances of Kerry, Pelosi, Clinton, Waxman, Edwards, and others, that there were definitely WMD in Iraq.  The same group that backed off later, then today is assuring us that terrible chemical weapons are being used in Syria. Bush also spent months leading up to the invasion in talks with Congress, and had strong support.

Why Obama wants us to go to war

Obama plans a gay rights push in Russia

Michael Wolfe writes on FB: 

“You have no patience. You hypocrite. You persecute homeschoolers already granted asylum from Nazi era anti-homeschool law, you persecute Christian businesses for not subsidizing sexual perversion and now your love for homosexual behavior and unconstitutional warmongering could help start WWIII. The bloodiest Nobel peace recipient in history? There's one for the books.”

The hypocrisy of a president who wouldn’t support gay marriage until he was sure it wouldn’t hurt him politically, or championing athletes and celebrities who hid in the closet for years, is just beyond me.

Sick.

Our government lies with photos

"Secretary of State John Kerry opened his speech Friday by describing the horrors victims of the chemical weapon attack suffered, including twitching, spasms and difficulty breathing. Attempting to drive the point home, Kerry referenced a photograph used by the BBC illustrating a child jumping over hundreds of dead bodies covered in white shrouds. The Secretary of State forgot to mention, however, that this photo was taken during US intervention in Iraq back in 2003." Journal of Turkish Weekly.

Because of all the scandals and lies of this administration, they can't be trusted on the issue of Syria, and may well be using this to cover the messes they've been making the last 5 years.